Wednesday, July 21, 2004

Economy best under Clinton's tenure, according to Forbes.com

Ranking the economy under the 10 postwar presidents who have completed their terms (current administration not included), Forbes reports it was best under Clinton. They judged based on GDP growth, growth of real personal disposable income, employment and job growth, unemployment, inflation, and deficit reduction.
Reagan's term was fourth.
So, while I'll admit there were factors that were out of Clinton's hands, like the widespread adoption of networking technology in the workplace, which led to increased productivity, there are some things he did do which had a lasting impact.
1) Pushed deficit reduction, which gave Greenspan room to lower the federal funds rate. With a lower short-term rate, and with the government competing less for credit, long-term rates dropped and the housing boom was on. Homeowners began to refinance, leaving them with more money in their pockets.
2) Pushed NAFTA and the expansion of global trade. In the short-term, American workers are suffering the job losses, but since I'm not running for office, I can say it's probably better in the long-term. Americans have cheaper goods, and with a growing middle-class in India and China, there will be greater markets for American companies.
3) Signed welfare reform, which reduced entitlements.
4) Assigned his vice-president to look for ways for the government to more efficiently deliver services with the re-inventing government initiative.